AP Literature and Composition Summer Institute:
U. of Iowa, Iowa City: July 7-10, 2014
Agenda
Monday, July 7:
1. Introductions: facilitator and participants
2. Objectives and Goals for AP English Lit and Comp: participants reflect and write
3. Introduction to the AP Exam: format and types of questions; reading, literary
analysis and writing skills tested. Exams we will use: 1987, 1991, 1994, 1999,
2004, 2009, 2013 and 2014 essay prompts; online practice exam on AP Central site.
4. How AP aligns to the Common Core Standards in reading and writing; using the
standards and essential questions to develop curriculum. Discussion of David
Coleman’s “Cultivating Wonder” text and approach to instruction for AP courses.
5. What I want to know about AP Lit and Comp: journal topic #1.
6. Building a literature unit around a theme and essential questions: romance, love
and marriage.
• Pre-reading and discussion about marriage today—essential question: “Is
marriage a viable institution today?”
• Sonnet 116: a traditional view of marriage (16th century)
7. Developing the course syllabus:
• Selecting texts:
Titles for AP Lit Open-ended question (#3)
CCSS—Text Complexity Descriptors
“Standing on Merit: The Role of Quality and Choice in Student
Reading,” Barry Gilmore (AP publication)
• how to organize the units of instruction
• developing a calendar for the year
Tuesday, July 8:
1. Reading and writing about poetry: journal topic #2
• approaches to teaching poetry
the five-minute write: Dickinson poems/other short poems
“Ask me five questions” approach
using the TP-CASTT approach to poetry analysis—“Beasts” and
“The Groundhog”
using essential questions to teach poetry
• selecting poets and poetry to include; deciding when to teach certain poets
and types of poems
• exploring a poet of choice: paired student project on a poet of choice
Using Dickinson as a model
• comparing and contrasting poems on a similar topic or theme: Dickinson
and Frost (2004 exam); “Helen and “To Helen” (1994 exam)
• helping students identify tone, irony, and satire in poetry:
“Did I Miss Anything”
“Daddy” and “Mommy”—parody-writing assignment
“The Indifferent” and other 17th century poems
Titanic poems
On lying to children: Wilbur and Collins poems
2. Writing essays about poetry: 2008 test as a model for assessing poetry essay
responses.
3. Exploring the AP Website: test prep, support for instruction, PD opportunities
Wed., July 9:
1. Selecting and reading short stories, novels, plays: journal topic #3.
2. Selecting fiction and plays to teach: authors, eras, sub-genres/types of texts to
teach. Examining the 1971-2013 free response titles and prompts.
3. Helping students identify tone and irony in short stories and novels:
“Judge Pyncheon” (1996 exam)
“Desiree’s Baby”
“Voice” student writing project (As I Lay Dying)
4. Questioning Texts: Hillocks’ levels of questions
Genesis 3—participants practice writing questions at levels 4-7
Using biblical and classical texts together (e.g., Oedipus and Genesis 22)
Interpreting classical texts, especially myths
5. Using the elements of fiction to determine meaning in a text:
Setting, characterization, conflict, allusions in The Great Gatsby
6. Using Chopin’s The Awakening as a model: Essential question—“What approach
would you take to teaching this novel?”
• pre-reading survey on marriage: attitudes and opinions
• critical approaches to the text—discussion of if, when, and how to use
these
• selecting an analytic focus: characterization (foils); conflict (internal
conflicts); allusions and symbols (archetypal approach); irony
• assessments of student understanding: what should these be for this
novel?
7. Working on a performance event assessment individually (afternoon task)
Thursday, July 10:
1. Responding to student writing: journal topic #4.
Discussion of ways to facilitate and assess student writing in response to AP
prompts and other responses to literature: what works?
2. Using Trifles (Susan Glaspell) as a model for teaching drama and for making
thematic connections among genres: fiction, poetry, drama.
3. Discussing Fences (August Wilson) as a modern play that has significant, relevant
themes that are often addressed in the open-ended question (essay 3).
3. Practicing with Renaissance Era plays:
• Richard II (1991 exam)
• Richard III (1983 exam)
• Henry VIII (2009 exam)
• Volpone (1999 exam)
3. Discussion of possible activities and assignments work in the last two weeks of
May after the exam.
4. Discussion of administrative and equity issues:
• Equity policy
• Gaining administrative support for the AP program
5. Ideas for how to use technology to enhance instruction in AP Lit and Comp:
brainstorm together.
7. Practice scoring essays for the Free Response Question #3 (2005 exam).
Assessment: (for graduate credit)
Participants attending the AP Literature Institute for graduate credit should
submit the following:
A 2-3 page double-spaced essay outlining their approach to teaching AP
Literature, including a list of texts they will use, approaches they will take to
instruction in the literature, and two examples of writing-based assignments they
will give their students.